


The Great Exchange

by Whisper132



Category: Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-07-22
Updated: 2006-07-22
Packaged: 2017-10-23 15:34:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/251991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whisper132/pseuds/Whisper132
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Due to Fuji's brilliant planning, Kirihara and Echizen are exchanged for a week.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Great Exchange

“Remember to be courteous,” Yukimura said, adjusting Kirihara’s tie and combing a few wild hairs down with his fingers.

“Yes, buchou.” Kirihara stood still for the fussing. Yukimura-buchou was still angry about losing nationals and the bet with Seigaku’s Fuji Syusuke. Kirihara didn’t understand why Yukimura was upset, Kirihara was the one who was being trucked off to Seigaku for a week.

“Keep your eyes on the first and second years,” Yanagi said, tapping at his chin. “You’ll want to carefully observe your rivals for next year.”

“Yes, senpai.” Kirihara didn’t want to observe anything. He wanted to stay home, where his things were, and make a nice card for his and Marui’s six month anniversary, which he would miss because he was going to be at stupid Seigaku.

“Make sure you mess with ‘em good,” Niou said, ruffling Kirihara’s hair, much to Yukimura’s disgruntlement.

“Don’t listen to anything Niou’s told you,” was Yagyuu’s suggestion. “And use your handkerchief, not your sleeve.”

“Yes, senpai.” Would they hurry up? He was gonna miss his bus at this rate.

“Call me if there’s a problem.” Jackal forwent his usual ruffling of hair in favor of a supportive clap to Kirihara’s shoulder. Behind Jackal, Marui was looking around, obviously wanting to say something but not wanting to say it in front of everyone. He moved from foot to foot, going forward then back, side to side.

Kirihara pushed through his senpai and walked up to Marui. “Here,” he said, taking a rectangular box out of his jacket pocket. “Don’t open it ‘til Wednesday, though. It’s, uh, for…you know.” Kirihara thought he was over the whole blushing thing. Apparently, he was wrong.

“Yours isn’t done yet,” Marui said. Kirihara could barely hear him above the hoots and whistles of the rest of the team. “We can still go to lunch or something after school. Seigaku’s not that far.”

“Kiss him!” Jackal said, shoving Marui forward.

Marui’s eyes flashed and he rounded on his doubles partner. “I’m not gonna kiss him here where everyone can see! What kinda friend are you? You ruined a perfectly normal moment with your perverted need to see me kissing Akaya!” Marui kicked Jackal in the shins. “Freak! Just because…” Marui trailed off, realizing that everyone was watching.

“It’s time to go,” Sanada said, using a hand on Kirihara’s back to steer him away from the scuffle. “We’re going to miss the bus if we wait any longer.”

Kirihara checked his pocket to make sure his ketai was there as well as his charger. “Call you,” he mouthed to Marui as Sanada dragged him off campus. He blew a kiss on the wind and Marui caught it, smiling. Then Jackal made another crack and Marui was being held back by Yagyuu while Niou whispered something in Jackal’s ear and Yukimura ran to catch up with Kirihara and Sanada after entrusting the running of the club to Renji.

Kirihara was going to miss home.

  
&-&

  
“Just fill out these forms while you’re there,” Inui told Echizen, handing the first year a stack of paper three inches thick. “Focus only on the first and second years. If you need more, let me know.”

Echizen took the papers and shoved them into his duffel, fully intending to ignore them. “Yes, Inui-senpai.”

“Did you pack enough underwear?” Oishi asked, looking around the bus depot. “Did you remember toothpaste? Socks?”

“Oishi! Ochibi knows how to pack.” Kikumaru slung an arm over Oishi’s shoulder, leading him away, and winked at Echizen.

If Echizen told people that Kikumaru was the most normal member of the Golden Pair, no one would believe him.

“Let us know if they start any trouble,” Kaidoh hissed, then added, in a whisper, “Ignore those papers. Inui-senpai’s just nervous for next year. Have fun.” He gave Echizen a thumbs up and stalked away to sit on a nearby bench.

“There’s a really great sweets house in Kanagawa,” Momo said, handing Echizen a menu he printed from the internet. “Bring me back some taffy on the way home.”

Echizen crumpled the paper and threw it at Momo’s head. “Get it yourself.”

“We don’t deliver out that far,” Kawamura said, “but if you really need something, call me and I’ll see what I can do.”

Echizen brightened. “Thanks, senpai!” It was too bad Taka-san wasn’t going to play tennis in high school. No Taka-san meant no free sushi dinners.

“They’re here,” Fuji sang, picking up Echizen’s duffel and dragging him by the arm toward the approaching bus. “I’m sure you’ll have lots of fun at Rikkai. So much you won’t ever want to come back.” The last was said in a whisper.

Echizen wasn’t sure what he did to piss Fuji-senpai off, but he was regretting it. A lot. Saying he was sorry wouldn’t help, though. Once Fuji was mad at you, the only thing you could do was suffer until he was content again.

The bus doors opened and Kirihara jumped out, looking around until he caught sight of Seigaku. “Yo!” He turned back into the bus. “Found em!”

Behind Kirihara, Yukimura Seiichi exited. Yukimura looked too much like a girl for Echizen’s tastes, but he played a really mean game of tennis. His and Tezuka-buchou’s game at nationals lasted all day and was called at a tie when all the spectators started falling asleep, somewhere around nine at night.

Fuji walked up to Yukimura and handed him Echizen’s bag. “Take good care of him,” Fuji said. It sounded like he was sealing an execution contract.

“I’m not going,” Echizen said, walking away. A hand to his shoulder stopped him and he looked up to see himself reflected in Tezuka’s glasses.

“You’re going,” Tezuka said, nodding toward the bus.

Echizen opened his mouth to give the traditional “yada” but his attention was focused on a bead of sweat rolling down the side of Tezuka’s face. Buchou had a really nice jaw, not too boxy and not too curvy. The sweat rolled down his chin and began to pool, ready to drop down into his shirt.

“The bus will be leaving soon. You wouldn’t want to miss it.” Fuji took hold of Echizen’s arm and tugged him away from Tezuka, who was having a stoic’s battle with Sanada.

Echizen shook free of Fuji’s grip, he suspected only because the tensai let him, and marched up to Sanada. “I want to play a game with you when we get to Rikkai.”

Sanada rolled his eyes and boarded the bus. Yukimura followed, waving to Fuji and Akaya, who was standing between Oishi and Kikumaru, looking very uncomfortable. “Be good, Akaya! We’ll come pick you up in a week!” Yukimura turned down to Echizen. “There are some rules we abide by at Rikkaidai. You will learn those rules and follow them to the letter or there will be consequences.”

Echizen shrugged and boarded the bus. If he hurried, he could sit next to Sanada.

  
&-&

  
After two days of sugary, feel-good Seigaku crap, Akaya was ready to go home. Seigaku’s practices were a joke, full of low-skill rallies and boring laps. The only thing mildly exciting was Inui’s Jiru, which Kirihara wasn’t allowed to have because Inui thought it might have “adverse effects.”

“How about we play some real tennis?” Akaya whispered to Arai. “Loser has to cut off the tip of his tongue.”

Kirihara watched Arai run away, screaming. Finally, some fun. Niou-senpai’s plans were awesome.

“Fshuu, if you’re not going to train, then shut up so the rest of us can,” Kaidoh said from where he sat on the ground, stretching.

Having nothing better to do, Kirihara helped him lean forward by pressing on his back. “Your team’s boring. They don’t even do enough training to make practice worth it.”

Kaidoh turned, letting out another hiss. “After practice, meet me outside. You can train with me.”

Kirihara shrugged. “Cool.”

  
&-&

  
Whatever he might look like, Yukimura Seiichi was a demon. He ran Echizen to exhaustion at practice and, every time Echizen moved to ask Sanada for a game, Yukimura was there, watching.

“You’re gonna get your ass kicked if you don’t lay off Sanada,” Marui said, patting Echizen on the head. “Buchou’s really territorial. Kinda like your Fuji.”

“Territorial?” The people at Rikkai all talked weird, too. They never explained anything, even when you asked.

“Kirihara’s family eats at 5:45 on the dot. You’re pissing them off by being late every day.” Marui continued while grabbing a towel and rubbing his hair down. “Akaya’s gonna be mad that you upset his mom.”

Echizen shrugged. What did he care if Kirihara’s family was upset because he wasn’t at dinner. He never ate with his family when there was tennis to be played and wasn’t about to change that habit now, even if there was no one to play tennis against except Niou and Yanagi, who both seemed a little too happy to play against Echizen.

  
&-&

  
Kirihara lay on the grass, staring up at the night sky, unable to move his legs. “That was awesome,” he huffed. “Let’s do it again tomorrow.” His calves burned with lactic acid after running longer than he’d ever run in his life, even considering that time Jackal chased him around the school for beating up a freshman.

Kaidoh stood, breathing hard but composed. “Tomorrow is weight training,” he said. “We run again on Wednesday.”

“Busy Wednesday.” Kirihara tried to sit up and failed. Oh well, the sky looked really pretty. If he squinted, he could even make out a few stars. “I’ll do double on Thursday to make up for it, though.”

“If you don’t run on Wednesday, then everything you did today is useless.” Kaidoh took off his bandana and used it to wipe away the sweat crawling down his face and neck. “Are you going home?” he asked quietly.

Kirihara was glad his skin was already red from the run, otherwise he’d look stupid. “Yeah. I’ve gotta meet someone for something.”

Kaidoh thought for the moment it took him to pull a clean bandana from his bag and put it on. “You’ll run there, then. The distance is a bit much, but you should be able to make it in good time.”

Kirihara was about to argue that Marui would think Kirihara running to their anniversary dinner and showing up covered in sweat was gross, but looking at Kaidoh, at his earnest expression and, above all, his legs, which could crush walnuts, Kirihara just nodded and settled into the ground. It would be another half hour yet before he could summon the will to move.

  
&-&

  
Echizen expected Kirihara’s room to be more like a dungeon, or some dark gothic castle . It was, instead, a very well lit space with powder blue blankets on the bed and abstract art prints on the wall.

“Echizen-kun, the bath is ready.” Kirihara-san tapped on the bedroom door, probably with the spoon she carried at all times. She used the spoon to cook, to reach things on high shelves, and to thwap the dog on the head when he tried to bother the goldfish.

“Yes ma’am.” Echizen was under strict instruction from Sanada to be courteous to Kirihara’s family. If Echizen didn’t behave himself, Sanada said he would no longer stop Niou from executing his Get to Know You Plan. If the Get to Know You Plan was anything like the Let’s Go Eat Ramen Plan, Echizen didn’t want to have anything to do with it.

  
&-&

  
“Wow, this is good,” Kirihara said through a mouthful of eggs. “I have to eat cereal every morning at my house.”

“Can’t build a strong body on nothing but cereal,” Nanjiroh said sagely. “Growing boys need protein.” He looked around to make sure they weren’t being observed, then shoved a magazine into Kirihara’s hands. “And literature. Must have literature.”

Kirihara looked at the idol magazine, gagged, then handed it back. “No thanks.” Kirihara fished in his uniform pocket – he liked the Seigaku uniforms, they didn’t require a stupid tie that choked him all day – and pulled out a picture of Marui. “This is my boyfriend.”

Nanjiroh excused himself from the table, holding his magazine to his chest and muttering nonsensically. Kirihara laughed at the old man and stole his breakfast.

  
&-&

  
Echizen’s arms wouldn’t lift. Try as he might, he couldn’t do another racquet swing, even though Yukimura was insisting that he do fifty more for insubordination.

“Seiichi, enough.” Sanada put a hand to Yukimura’s shoulder and the feral light in Yukimura’s eyes softened, his eyelids sliding closed as he leaned back against Sanada. “Go shower,” Sanada instructed Echizen.

Echizen was frozen, watching Sanada’s arm curl around Yukimura’s waist, watching Yukimura’s chest expand and relax in time with the slow circles Sanada’s fingers traced over his abdomen.

Hands covered Echizen’s eyes. “Children should leave the adults to their games and behave,” Jackal said. He hoisted Echizen up on his shoulder and started off for the clubhouse. “We’ll send Tezuka a message, make sure he explains grown-up tennis to you when you’re older.”

  
&-&

  
After his date with Marui, Kirihara couldn’t swipe the grin from his face. Marui liked the silver skull necklace Kirihara purchased and, in return, gave Kirihara the silver claw ring he’d been eyeing at a local jeweler. The ring came engraved: Property of a Tensai. Akaya was never taking it off.

“Remove all jewelry before practice,” Tezuka said, eyeing Kirihara’s claw.

“No.” Kirihara could feel the engraved words on his skin, like little teeth.

“You are not allowed to practice with that thing on,” Tezuka insisted.

“Ne, Tezuka, can I speak with you a moment?” Fuji tugged on Tezuka’s arm and rose up to speak in his ear.

Tezuka’s right eyebrow lifted, then he turned from Kirihara to Fuji, then back. “I see,” he said. “It will be Yukimura’s problem anyhow. Continue practice.”

Fuji winked at Kirihara then ran after Tezuka. A small silver band on Fuji’s finger glinted in the sunlight.

  
&-&

  
Echizen ran out of the bus, expecting his teammates to be waiting with open arms and bouquets, ready to be rid of the red eyed menace they’d been saddled with.

They were not supposed to be gathered around Kirihara, giving him chocolates. They were not supposed to be hugging him and refusing to let go.

“We’ve decided we’d like to keep him,” Fuji told Sanada. “Enjoy Echizen.”

Yukimura exited the bus, Echizen’s duffel in hand, and glided to Fuji. Echizen felt sorry for Fuji. After a week at Rikkai, Echizen knew, without a doubt, that Yukimura was the devil. The horns were hidden somewhere in his hair. “We’ll be taking Akaya home now. Here’s Echizen’s things.” Yukimura threw the duffel at Fuji’s head.

“Buchou!” Kirihara jumped away from the cluster of Seigaku and ran to embrace his captain. After a fierce hug, he hopped over to Sanada. “Did you miss me?” he asked.

“Your absence was felt,” Sanada said, smiling from under his baseball cap.

“Yes! Niou-senpai owes me! I knew you’d miss me! I knew it!” Handing Sanada his duffel, Kirihara ran onto the bus. “Let’s go, I wanna see Bu…I wanna see the team.”

Yukimura and Sanada boarded the bus, Yukimura with a last withering smile at Fuji.

“Hey Echizen, you get me that taffy?” Momo asked, looping an arm around Echizen’s shoulders.

Echizen threw Momo’s arm off and picked up his duffel bag. “I’m going home,” he said, even though his team wasn’t listening. They were staring after the bus, waving to Kirihara.

When Echizen got home, he was swept up in a hug by Nanjiroh. “You’re not gay are you, son?” Nanjiroh asked, setting Ryoma down and holding him out at an arm’s distance.

Echizen froze. He tried to think of something to say that wasn’t “so you just noticed?” He settled for, “mada mada da ne” and ran into his room, determined to hide there for the rest of his life.


End file.
